What Happens in Haiti
by Fairyfloss01
Summary: This is a short out take in Eric's POV of my story Dead Wrong. Eric reflects on his relationship with Sookie while he embarks on his trip with Amelia
1. Chapter 1

What Happens in Haiti

The sickly sweet burning spell of magic hit my nose as soon as the plane landed. This country is just reeks of it and I'm glad I don't need to breathe anymore.

It's 5:30am and I have exactly one hour until sunrise. I don't trust the hotels in this Godforsaken hell hole and had made arrangements with an old acquaintance for accommodation. It should still be dark when I arrive at Variola's compound, but I'd rather not take any chances in a country like this. I climbed into my coffin as the Anubis limo awaits, the handlers and driver all bowing to me before I embark on the vehicle. Some vampires enjoy this kind of reverence. I think it's excessive when it's not due.

Variola was one of my business partners in the seventies, when we took full advantage of the psychedelic disco scene and we reaped in an enormous amount of cash selling drugs to club owners- in bulk. Things were always cordial between us and she shouldn't mind me imposing on her hospitality for a night or so before I suss out whether the houngan Amelia had been going on about is for real.

The more I work with this witch the more I'm impressed with her dedication to her craft. She has talent that's for sure, but she's also hard working and diligent. This is a hard trait to find in anyone nowadays, human or otherwise. When I first commissioned her on our little project it was just on a whim. I was extremely impressed by the ease she was able to cast the custodi locke on both Sookie and the were. Hallow, the most dexterous witch to cause any concern within the supernatural community in a long time (and only because she was a V drinking werewitch at that) couldn't get the spell to work right.

From the beginning, Amelia took to the project with passion, giving me regular updates with distribution charts, graphs and even color coding the different brands of magic which seem be a legitimate lead. I never expected to get as far as we have with Amelia actually coming up with her own version of ancient spells or even a hybrid spell of several different disciplines. I was the only one she could experiment with so far with no obvious results, but to actually have methods to trial and error with is a great feat in itself. Turning the undead back to any form of life was unheard of and even the idea of it had always been considered _Ab asino lanem_. Did I want to see how far the little witch could go? I sure did! Did I expect any kind of result? Not really.

I embarked on the endeavor to research my options; I didn't survive over a millennium by chance. Exit, back-up and strategies were always in place as well as intelligence and counter intelligence projects were always deployed to ensure that I won't need my exit or back up plans. I must say that recent events concerning the downfall of a queen like Sophie Anne LeClerq was unsettling. Sophie Anne was the Artful Dodger of survival and there was nothing the saucy minx wouldn't stoop to in order to come out ahead of the game. That in combination with Andre and Berts by her side, I wouldn't have been surprised if they had lived long enough to be the first vampires to live in the first colony on Mars!

Sophie Anne had a special connection with her children and it was hard to break into that circle of trust. If you were hoping for a political career within Louisiana then this was not the ideal administration you'd want to work in. I never aspired to be King or even Sheriff for that matter, but as the reality of the Great Revelation drew near a few years ago, it became apparent that chances of survival would always be greater in numbers. Though the American Vampire Union had all the chess pieces in place to minimize the chance public lynching or an all out riot would break out after our announcement, one always had access to better information when you belonged with an institution. I made sure Pam was close to me when all of this went down.

The way Sophie Anne ran things suited me just fine. All I had to do was run things properly and she'd leave me alone and in return I never aspired to amount to anything more in her regime. That suited Sophie Anne just right too. Running Area Five was oddly satisfying, I enjoyed seeing the fruits of my labor and the order I instill in the area. If I had learnt anything in my prolific existence is that _bene qui latuit, bene vixit_. This had worked out well for me until I met Sookie Stackhouse.

Sookie.

Just the mention of her name caused my chest to constrict and I instinctively drew breath to relieve the tension. Since Sookie had entered my life, I've been getting myself involved in the most bizarre and precarious situations. Hell, I hadn't said five sentences to her and Fangtasia was raided. That girl was a trouble magnet since day one. Serial killers, religious fanatics, the weres, shifters, fairies, not to mention vampires all had made some sort of attempt at her life. I've even had to deal with maenad because of this girl when I thought dealing with the aftermath of one maenad once in one's existence was already enough.

The trouble does not lie solely on the fact that she's a telepath. Sure, telepaths are few and far in between, and to have one that's pleasant on the eyes like her is rare indeed, but her rarest and most unique quality is in her innocence. In the few telepaths with whom I crossed paths, many of them were either driven mad or had been unable to survive their abilities. Humans are such xenophobic, narrow minded things. Many humans gifted with extraordinary abilities, even if it's just enhanced human intelligence, have been persecuted or simply hunted by their own kind. The Salem Witch trials are only one example of those vicious cycles, doomed to repeat time and again in history. Of the telepaths who have been able to conceal or somehow convince others otherwise of their abilities, most are so jaded by human nature they try to escape it, either physically by becoming hermits or mentally at the bottom of a bottle.

When Sookie admitted to me that she trusted me on our drive to that little filth party excuse of an orgy I thought she was crazy. Trust is the first thing out the window with any telepath, because they know of the disgusting desires of the human condition. Most of them would not even come near to trusting a vampire of whom they can't read or hear and here she was entrusting me with her safety after I tricked her into taking my blood not more than a week ago. At first I'd just written it off as her being naive. Bill was a decent person and in turn a soft vampire; I thought Sookie got the wrong impression of us somehow. Cogitative and well read, it was evident she was an intelligent girl.

After our first kiss (and a little something extra) at Russell's estate, I was surprised that even though she was informed of Bill's infidelity she would still boldly take on the task of rescuing him. She had quite a significant amount of my blood that day and the emotions that she went through when Bubba had confirmed that Bill was held captive and was indeed suffering, was intoxicating. I almost drowned in the tidal wave of emotions she went through. The last time I had given blood in such a large amount was when I turned Pam and I definitely didn't have to deal with human emotions that time.

Humans don't surprise me anymore; _ex uno disce omnes _I always said, but I was pleasantly surprised by Sookie Stackhouse. Like how humans feel when they go through old photographs, it was quite a nostalgic experience when I was sifting through her emotions to decipher just what was going through her head. She definitely felt fear, so she knew the danger she was putting herself into by saving Bill. She definitely felt hurt and anger so she wasn't operating under the illusion that this act of heroism would somehow salvage the relationship. All the same she felt responsibility as well as love and care and I could only arrive at the conclusion that she is brave.

Sookie Stackhouse became very interesting after that, frustratingly so after my encounter with Hallow. Witches are like cockroaches, they have no right to be in your house and you have to be diligent to keep them away. Hallow and her crew were like an infestation that was about to get out of hand. It was only sheer dumb luck that her spell didn't work as intended, otherwise Hallow would've met her fate a lot sooner. Even after I got the details from Sookie about our little affair, I was still unable to understand why I was that much more infatuated with her and it was – distracting to say the least.

I found myself uncontrollably interested in Sookie's affairs. I wanted and used any excuse there was to be close to her and be near her. Even when she was dating that insufferable were, John Quinn. It should've been enough for me to be repulsed by the woman traipsing around with the weretiger. The muted feelings of lust and desire she had for the fur ball was enough to make me hurl; if only I was capable of such a reaction. However, time and again I'm attracted to her at her time of need.

Don't think that I'm attracted to the damsel in distress, I'm not that chivalrous. I didn't live over a millennium without overcoming such an absurd human sentiment. What I felt from her when she was holding the soda can bomb was the need to minimize the damage it could cause even if it meant her own demise. All her intentions were noble. I haven't seen this sort of courage in any human not engaged in war and those were few even at that. But to get such emotions off of a beautiful human woman at a hotel with a weretiger begging her to give the bomb to him was astounding.

Sookie's courage and bravery shone through when she came to save Pam and me when the hotel building was blowing up and I had no choice but to respect and admire her. So much so, that when I knew we were under attack from the Nevada regime, I abandoned my own men to fight by her side. Because if I was going to fight a war with Satan himself, Sookie Stackhouse would be the person I want by my side. I haven't felt such closeness with another being since my days as a human. The only connection I've had with anyone on that level, where I would respect and trust them with my life unquestionably was my older brother Leif. Sookie had reignited the passion and warm familiarity one can feel with companionship and the joy of trust I had only experienced with my brother. To ask whether I regained my memory of loving her because I fell in love her or I fell in love with her because I regained my memory would be to ask whether the chicken or egg came first. All I knew was that I was in love for the first time in my life.

Two hundred years ago the pretense that defined femininity of that age was so uptight I thought I'd suffocate when I don't even need air. Women were so ashamed of their sexuality that it was almost impossible to enjoy sex with them without the wave of guilt and self loathing that were always ever present in their souls. When I saw Pam climbing out the window to see her lover, I saw a spark in her that I haven't seen in women for centuries. It reminded me of how Leif and I would climb out the window at night and steal food from the kitchens before the winter solstice celebrations of Freyja. Pamela was my first breath of fresh air in centuries and I thought I had finally found someone worthy of companionship. I decided to turn her that very night. I never regretted that decision, but Pam was not the person I was looking for. Sure, she embraced everything that was vampire and we had a lot of fun, but when the lust faded all that was left was only love of a child.

With Sookie it's different. She is the only woman, man, human - person I would want to be with through thick and thin. I would turn her to keep her with me always only if I didn't know what I know from the bond. Through my bond with her, I've discovered that Sookie's rooted belief that love is eternal is the reason she protects all things she loves with such ferocity; her friends, her family, her job and even now - me. If I were ever to turn her, she would inevitably see that nothing lasts forever, even our relationship. I am certain this would kill the very essence that is the miracle that is Sookie Stackhouse.

That is why I must let her live in that ever corroding flesh and blood bag that deteriorates every day, let her grow old in the vulnerable useless casing that houses that gloriously noble spirit of hers. I didn't know I could experience true pain until I saw her at the hospital after what those fucking fairies did to her. When Clancy and nearly Bill died in our effort to protect her, it dawned on me that just being a vampire is not enough to keep her safe. Since then I have been putting in place multiple plans and safety nets to ensure that she is safe and taken care of. Commissioning the witch on this experiment would prove to be a useful ploy if we ever need to go underground and disappear. No-one in their wildest dreams would suspect a vampire had become human. After all, who in their right mind would give up eternity to become a rotting piece of meat? This plan would no doubt be a last resort. One I hope I won't have to use.

Sophie Anne LeClerq's downfall is a stark reminder to me that nothing is below you in order to survive. The sudden change of administration of Louisiana was something I could anticipate but not prepare for fully. Sophie Anne was so weak after Rhodes it was only a matter of time someone would just come and take it. If she hadn't been so hooked on power she would've deputized someone as acting Prime Minister or some bullshit like that. But, no, she was too damn proud of the empire she had built for herself and look what happened.

Now I'm in a situation where I don't have eyes and ears on the ground. We have no-one on the inside of Felipe's administration to give us any intel about what's going on and it's very frustrating. Pam is working on Victor's day man to gauge who would be a good target to be our mole. We'd better be making headway soon as I don't like being in the vulnerable position we are now.

Dawn was almost breaking when we finally arrived at the compound and I could smell the weres working for Variola having some harsh words with the driver for arriving late. The driver apologized in Creole French that he had to take an alternate route because gun shots were fired at the market square.

You see, it always pays to be prepared. I felt the dawn arrive and my consciousness slip just as I remembered I should call Sookie and see why the shifters wanted to see her at the airport.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the repost guys, I forgot to add the author's note before posting. There should be a short chapter after this before I start publishing the actual sequel. I hope you enjoy this little dip into Eric's head. Being as old as Eric is, he should think in a few languages. Latin being the language of the enlightened for so long would no doubt be one of the many languages he's fluent in. Below are translations of Eric's thoughts in Latin.**

**Many thanks to murgatroid98 for beta'ing this, I really can't do this by myself.**

**_ex uno disce omnes _you know one you know them all**

**_bene qui latuit, bene vixit_ One who lives well, lives unnoticed**

**_Ab asino lanem- _Wool from an ass, blood from a stone; impossible. -**


	2. Postponement

I know I promised I would post the second chapter soon. However since the earthquake in Haiti, it feels wildly inappropriate for me to publish a short story that brings to light some of the less conventional traditions of the Haitian people while they are suffering.

So the second chapter will be postponed indefinitely. It's unlike my style, but there's no cliffhanger at the end of the first chapter so I hope you won't be too disappointed at my decision. On the other hand, I will have more time to work on the sequel to Dead Wrong.

On another note, please help the Haitian people by supporting the Red Cross in their efforts to bring aid to the area. At this stage they need all the help they can get. www. redcross . org


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello Everyone!**

**I'm back and hopefully things will be back in full swing. I should be able to post the prologue for the sequel to Dead Wrong called Dead Man Walking in a few hours and the third chapter of What Happens in Haiti (yes there ended up being a third one) hopefully in the next few days. So watch this space. **

**I'll be updating my profile to include references to the Day of the Dead rituals described here. I actually saw it in a TV program and I'm having a hard time finding it on youtube. I may have to upload it myself.**

**That aside, please note that as the rainy season approaches the people of Haiti need your help more than ever. You can donate to the Red Cross www(dot)redcross(dot)org or any other charity you see fit. **

**Now back to the Eric and Amelia...**

* * *

Amelia was very nervous, she had a stack of notes that she was going over and mumbling to herself.

"Relax Amelia, we don't even know if this priest is genuine or not. This meeting may prove fruitless."

"Oh, he's for real alright!" She paused and leaned in towards the front seat of the jeep where I was sitting. "You do not doubt my research do you?"

"Of course not my dear, but sometimes we just have to see things for ourselves." I had the opportunity to ask Variola and those in her compound whether they've heard of the Houngan Agwe and what he was capable of. Variola confirmed there had been rumors that Houngan Agwe's mentor Mambo Mary was indeed part of a group of vodou priests who cursed a vampire about fifty years ago. The vamp was a young one. His maker was neglectful and the young vamp went on a binge in the nearby village. The villagers captured him just before dawn and the rumor is that the vodou priests of the village cursed his soul to feel the pain that he had caused. Ultimately his conscience was so hard to bear the guilt ridden vamp met the sun the next morning.

Ever since then, most of the vamps in the area try their best to stay away from the village. As with any rumor there are always too many variables. The vampire was a young one and he may have met the sun from his own guilt, the villagers may not have laid a single hand on him. Also, there were no witnesses to his meeting the sun other than humans, the villagers may have just pushed him out there to fry, and we can't know for sure he was cursed into submission. I'm yet to be convinced.

Amelia settled back into her seat and went back to mumbling at her notes. I don't think she's slept since she's got here. When her research led to Haiti she was so wary that she had to eventually make this trip. The volatile civil state of the country would make any human worry but that wasn't the half of it. Amelia was the kind of human who would embrace an adventure, it was rather, she later disclosed, the particular of brand of magic practiced here that scares her.

"Well that's a stupid spell!" Amelia exclaimed as she slapped some of her notes on the seat. "Blood from three selfless acts of sacrifice! First of all, selfless acts of sacrifice don't always result in blood and secondly how the hell are we suppose to collect it? Have a vial handy at all times? Sometimes I really wonder what these warlocks are thinking when they concoct these spells!"

I was certain she wasn't looking for an answer with that small outburst and we had coincidentally arrived at our destination. The road ends outside of the village and our driver got out a flashlight and ushered us into the myriad of shanty houses. We were only walking for a few minutes when Amelia and I both felt it and stopped dead in our tracks. The smell of magic was so strong, the air burnt its way down our lungs. I instinctively looked up the hill in the direction it came from. Perched on top of the hill was a house that had seen better days. A shadow of former elegance suggested that it had once housed a more affluent family back in the day and had overlooked a hillside uncluttered by the current low income settlement.

Nothing was left but the shell of the house, with bare foundations and empty frames that once held windows and French doors. The concrete walls were covered with graffiti and hand painted images of Guede Nibo in a black suit and hat. The only illumination was provided by candles inside the house's skeleton and a drumfire, but this was enough to make the house shine like a beacon in the night.

As the bland, tasteless smell of animal blood wafted in the air and I could tell the party was in full swing. Percussion instruments were beating at a rapid rate and people were overflowing out from the doors and spilling out onto the pavement. When we walked into the crumbling structure I see a metal pan filled with blood and a dead goat slumped on the floor.

The humans were packed like bees in a hive, buzzing as they gyrated to the beat of the music. All of them were dancing in a self induced trance in varying degrees of drunkenness. Amelia took the lead and we threaded out way through the thick crowd. One of the drunken braggarts started convulsing as if she were being possessed and flopped in my direction. Thanks to my acute reflexes I avoided the slippery sweat ball and the social nicety of having to catch her fell on the person behind me. Stupid humans.

They all gather here with their dancing, drinking and goat killing hoping that this somehow will bring them good luck, money, love or whatever they need. Little do they know that it's the crazy energy they are generating that feeds the magic of the priest. They were like the water for Houngan Agwe's magical well. While the houngan harvested their energy and hysteria and channeled it into his magic. All they would get from this would be one hell of a hangover and maybe a free meal from the goat they slaughtered. Maybe this houngan isn't just smoke and mirrors after all.

Amelia was trying to make her way past a particularly excited circle of people. Someone threw a white object in the shape of small banana in her direction. She caught the rubbery white item in her hand and looked at it questioningly. The men and women started dancing around her and, judging by their gestures, were asking her to lick it. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" She wouldn't have been audible to human ears but I heard her fine. "I'm not going to lick something that they've been playing with this whole time!"

Vodou have many practices, but they are one and same when it comes to animal sacrifices. Amelia's reaction to this should be fun. I couldn't control my smirk as I said in her ear, "You know, it's rude to refuse their offering."

"Now I'm sure I don't want to do this" Amelia said as she tried to give the object in question back to one of the people in the crowd. She looked like she was panhandling, only she had an antithetical objective.

This obviously was very disrespectful. A woman in the dancing circle stepped up, took the white rubbery banana out of Amelia's hand, and licked it, all the while hissing viciously at Amelia in rapid Haitian Creole. Amelia took a step back and backed up against my chest.

"What is that thing anyway? Why do they insist on me licking it?"

I made sure I had her full attention as I raised my index finger in front of her line of sight and slowly stretched my arm and pointed to the basin of goat's blood by the door. For dramatic effect I kept my voice in a low and steady baritone while I explained, "You see that goat slumped next to that basin of blood?"

Amelia stiffly nodded, sensing that she's not going to like what she's going to hear.

"Well", I continued, "One of the villagers has awoken the spirit of Baron Samedi and let him possess his body. He bit the goat's testicles off with his bare teeth as a revelation to all those here to witness his power. They were offering you the goat's testicle as a gift for fertility."

Amelia turned three shades of green and looked at her hand like she wanted to grab a cleaver and hack it off.

"It was a particularly amorous male, adding the extra insult to you refusing it." I leered.

Amelia looked like she was about to hurl but only a "PEH" escaped her lips.

If I had more time I'd just wait and see what she'd do next; unfortunately we had more important issues on the agenda. So I placed my arm around her shoulder like we're old friends in order to comfort her and lead her towards the basement where the smell of magic was emanating from.

We were halfway down the dingy stairs when Amelia whispered, "They bit it off the goat?! While it was still alive?"

"Oh c'mon Amelia! You know it's just some drunk trying to assert his masculinity! In America they get into bar fights, here they bite off animal parts."

"I'm sooooooooooo glad I'm American."

"I'm sure all of the people upstairs would think that too if they had the choice."

Before Amelia could make a come back to my comment we reached the landing. We entered a small windowless room with white washed walls that had old and new stains and scratches. Hanging from the ceiling was an array of cleavers, pincers, saws, knives and meat hooks of varying degrees of rustiness and use. Some were even caked with blood. In the middle of the room was a butcher block table the size of an autopsy table. Nice touch.

Amelia was obviously spooked as I could hear her increased heart rate and the adrenaline in her sweat. I leaned back and in a whisper that could only be audible to human ears at close range said, "Don't let the room frighten you, he draws energy from fear as well. All this decoration is so Houngan Agwe can take advantage of anyone who comes down those stairs."

"Well it's working." Amelia answered, but I could feel she had calmed down a notch after my reassurance.

"You sho' have a weak 'eart fo' de ambitious plans yo' tryin' to achieve dear Amelia" came the disembodied voice from the corner. Amelia yelped like a puppy and her heart pounded at 60 miles an hour. Damn! I forgot that human eyes couldn't see him and the houngan was milking the situation for all it's worth.

"Hou-Hougan Agwe! It- it's an honor to finally meet you in person after all those phone calls and emails!"

Amelia was in awe of the guy and it pissed me off. Powerful or not the guy was just that- a witch. Outwardly, he didn't look anything out of the ordinary. Short at about 5"7, thin frame with lean muscles, his face didn't warrant a second glance if you met him on the street. That is until you notice the faded iris of his left eye. In between off white and iceberg blue, the effect gave his pupil a piercing stare from the eye. I couldn't miss the magic surrounding this guy, even more so since the party upstairs was in full swing and he's just glowing with magical energy.

Agwe swaggered over and gave Amelia a handshake and an air kiss on both cheeks. It was oddly pretentious, given the deliberately gruesome surroundings. Amelia introduced us and we shook hands.

Agwe eyed me from head to toe and asked the obvious question. "So you are the vampire 'oo wants to be flash and blud again?"

"Are you the one who could make it possible?" I asked, testing his ego.

If he launched into this like a used car salesman I was out of there. He may be powerful enough to grant many things, but no-one would boast being able to turn vampires back into humans. No-one who wanted to live long anyway.

"We don't make promises of that kind here Mr. Northman." Agwe chuckled. "I'm only 'elping Amelia 'ere with her wark. Where she takes it from 'ere, will be up to har."

Amelia beamed at Agwe like it was Christmas. I sensed that it made her proud when she was the one attempting something that even the houngan couldn't fathom. Human emotions are sometimes silly like that. The two of them started talking shop and I retreated, or zoned out would be the modern term.

Our activities as vampires are confined to the hours of darkness. We don't have the luxury that humans do of burning the midnight oil or pulling all nighters when things don't get done. In turn, our waking hours are utilized extremely efficiently, especially when we still had to hunt. To have the time to be in wakeful nothingness is a rare luxury and we take full advantage of the opportunity to do so when it occurs.

Amelia had my full attention when she turned to approach. Something was making her apprehensive.

"Spit it out Amelia."

She was taken a little by surprise since she sensed I was in down time. It only took her a split second to recover.

"Well Eric, you know we came here to see what insights Houngan Agwe could give us about the curse his teacher and her coven cast on the vamp all those years ago. What they did was quite ingenious. They cursed to him to relive his memories as a vampire with the compassion of the one's whose blood he took!"

"Congratulations on that Amelia, but what does that have to do with turning a vampire back into a human?"

"Everything Eric!"

Amelia rolled her eyes as if I just asked if the sun sets in the west. "If you've paid attention to page 102, column B of my last report you would know there is a strong correlation of revival spells originating with the soul!"

I don't forget anything. Vampires have excellent memories, but to say I've been reading all of Amelia's research and reports in detail would be a lie. Given her current state of excitement I didn't think I'll need to stay silent long before she continued.

Just on queue Amelia started like she hadn't drawn breath.

"My theory is that my spells haven't been working because you guys have hidden your humanity and,_ ergo__,_ your souls to survive your immortality. I think Houngan Agwe's information has just confirmed it. What his teacher and the other priests did was curse the captured vampire's soul to reawaken it and, in turn, he was burdened with the conscience of all those whose blood he took.

"So how are you planning to make all this relevant to our little venture?"

"Okay. Since all reincarnation spells start with the soul, we'll start working on reawakening yours. In order to do that you need to have blood of a human flowing through your body strong enough to achieve this. Thank God for your blood bond with Sookie! The catch is, you've lived such a long life. We don't know how long the process is going to take. Houngan Agwe knows the spell and how it works, but he's never witnessed it firsthand. We don't know if you'll see like watching a movie or it will be seared into your memory like a hot iron. Anyhow that is the big unknown."

Agwe was quiet in the corner until he let out a small cough, prompting Amelia to her next point.

"Oh. Houngan Agwe would like to be compensated for the indefinite time you will have to spend here while we work the spell. He wants two hundred dollars a day."

Amelia's tone was flat, she was a bit disappointed at the houngan's greed. I wasn't surprised. Amelia had always had a utilitarian view of magic; she had her fun with it but her baseline was never profit. I can understand her disappointment, but this was his living. Having said that, I am the master of negotiation and I'm not going to be taken for a fool. I scoffed at his face for the astronomical price and he explained by saying the money was not just for him but also for some local weres who would be providing protection during the day time. I argued that I would have my own daytime protection and only needed to rent the dingy basement. I offered him fifty dollars a week, a steep price considering the neighborhood. I said as much.

Agwe smoothly went into how invaluable his wards and his services were and countered 175 dollars. I concurred that his magical abilities seemed impressive but I had a long standing professional relationship with Amelia and she had my trust. Given the unreasonably steep prices, I would be able to make arrangements at Variola's compound, where I'd be more than happy to pay him for his services by the hour. We ended up agreeing on staying at the basement on thirty dollars for a day, a hundred fifty if I stayed for the week and five hundred if I was there for the month; on the condition that I'd provide my own daytime security, which I was going to do anyway. Agwe never called my bluff; I would've rather called the whole experiment off than have any vampire get wind of what we were doing.

Our project was to start the next day at sunset.


	4. Chapter 3

It was the first time I'd ever laid eyes upon her and she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Her pale skin glowed like the moonlight and her hair was the color of autumn leaves. Everything about her was perfect. Her nails, her teeth and every strand of her hair sat perfectly on her perfect shoulders. Even how she gave off a slight hint of a provincial French accent with the slight lilt of her h and her s's was perfect. If I hadn't known any better I would have sworn she was the embodiment of Fredja. I lowered my eyes before anyone could turn around and catch me staring at her. I mustn't let my intentions be known, especially not with him around.

With my back to the round table, I kept a watchful eye as they discussed the finer details of the events to take place at sunset tomorrow. Nothing out of the ordinary, protecting him was always my first priority. However, I was rather excited about tomorrow. Vampires had never collectively planned something this ambitious before and if it worked, it would be delightful.

I closed my eyes as I tried to ignore the whimpering of the human, gagged, tied and suspended down the middle of the table. I listened to the light clatter as he struggled fruitlessly with his chains. There really wasn't any point, I tied those chains myself and there was no escape. I was taught by the best.

Looking over to my left, I sized up the bodyguard of the fair maiden. He had nothing on me when it came to size, but he seemed to handle that saber with surprising agility. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he brandished his weapon with the ease of a jester and his marotte. Narcissistic fool. However, judging by his dexterity with the 5 foot saber, he must have been at least my age. How strange. I could tell by her speech she couldn't be more than a few decades older than her child.

This was most peculiar. They were almost the same age yet she was undoubtedly his sire. I could see the automatic response he had with her requests that are only present between a child and his Master. But where was hers? If she did indeed have a sire he would definitely have been present at this meeting. A sire would not be able to resist dipping into such a lucrative project their child designed. Yet, among the forty or so vampires in the room, not one of them was her Master.

Children remain with their Masters a few centuries at most before they are released. At least that's the average amongst others I had met. I had at least another century before I could even start to entertain the thought of the possibility freedom. Knowing Ocella, I doubted he would adhere to any social protocol of him releasing me just because I was of age. He was unpredictable at the best times.

The meeting was finally over and they finished it off with a toast.

"To Sophie Anne and her ingenious venture!" one old vampire said.

"Here, here. To Sophie Anne!" cheered another.

"To the most deviously delectable plan ever and the devilish dame who so kindly included us. Even if she's charging us a king's ransom!"

"Now, now gentlemen, I am but a merchant of good fortune. Shall we begin our toast?" Sophie Anne said as her luscious lips curled into a smile that could launch a thousand ships.

"Eric!" Barked Ocella. "You may serve supper."

My body leapt forward at his command. The fangs of those around the table flashed collectively as I unlocked the chain and the human crashed onto the oak table. His muffled scream was quickly silenced as they tore at his throat. I swallowed unnecessarily as I heard them tearing into the poor sap's flesh to get to the arteries, each trying to outdo the other with their determination to feed as quickly as possible before the human was drained dry. I stood back and shuddered at the sweet thick scent of fresh blood filling my nostrils. It had been days since I'd fed.

I felt a familiar hand at the base of my spine and his index finger roaming lower.

"None for you today, I can't have a satisfied guard on my flank, but you will be at liberty of whatever remains tomorrow. When I say so."

"Thank you, Master. You are most generous."

"Come now, we must rest. We leave at the last ray tomorrow."

"Yes Master."

My fangs extended slightly as he led me into his coffin. There might be the chance he'd let me bite him during sex.

* * *

The next evening, we waited silently on the deck of the ship. We were all dressed as seafarers. Ocella and the other sires were at the main deck and the bow. While the rest of us, the children and underlings lined the poop deck to ensure that when the time came none of them would be able to jump overboard to escape.

I had learned that the angel Sophie Anne's child's name is Andre and he was only a few feet away from me. I took this chance to find out more about them and started a conversation.

"Is your sire close? Will they be here soon?" I asked as if to gauge how long we have until the attack.

He closed eyes for a moment to sense his Master. "Close, she should arrive within an inch of a candle."

I looked up at the position of the moon to find that she was arriving at the exact time she said she would yesterday. "She's a woman of her word. Is she a good sire?"

"I have known no other, but I enjoy my relationship with my sire. She's not horrible; a firm sire yes; but more tolerant than others. This is more than I can say for many an other relationship I've seen."

"She's cunning too."

"She is quite remarkable."

Sensing he was in a confiding mood I decided to see if I could get more details from him.

"You have to tell me Andre, how did this plan come about? It must have taken considerable thought and planning. She can't have been the sole architect of this design!"

I know I broached the right subject because Andre smiled.

"Well, funny you should mention that. I would say the whole thing dropped on our laps at the opportune moment. You see, _I_ was the one with the blood bond with the human boy as Master and I travelled. This is so we may rest at ease during the day with a human to keep watch. That boy – Stephen - had always had a silver tongue. It was one of the things I liked about him, he entertains us. The whole thing started off innocently enough, with Stephen telling tall tales about himself possessing magical powers and what not. Such indiscretion resulted in him being beaten to a pulp and of course we had to heal him that night. We had already moved on to the next town, but the poor sod's pride was so hurt he returned to the previous village to claim his own divinity!"

I was shocked. "That's a real dangerous game to play. What if they burn him for witchery?"

"That would've been my thoughts exactly had I any control over his actions during the day. However, it might have been because he returned with the sun shining brightly or maybe it was just his gift of the gab. Not only were the villagers impressed, but Stephen returned to us with a following!"

"Good God! What if he had exposed you?!" I exclaimed

"It was my concern at first and was about to give him a lashing to remember, when Sophie Anne stopped me. You see, her mind works for schemes as an architect with brick and mortar. At first she thought that this would ensure that we would have a regular food supply at hand and would not need to hunt again as long as we're careful. In order to stay inconspicuous we have to be cautious in our choices of who we pick off and how to administer the proper glamouring. Eventually, Stephen's following grew to a size far beyond our expectations. My boy had played his part past perfection and even claimed he was visited by Jesus in a dream. He even asked to mix some of my blood with some wine where he can perform miracles by healing. After that the crowd doubled in almost a fortnight!"

At this point I was in awe. "What did you do then?"

"We obviously had much more than we could swallow and _I_ suggested we let some of the other vampires the area to dine with us at a fee. Of course my Master had an even better idea. What's better than a buffet of children! Do you know how much your Master had to pay in order for us to disclose when and where this little party was going to take place?"

I chuckled because Ocella would never let me know of his finances. "My Master doesn't let me know every detail. But I know enough. May I assume you and your sire are set for your eternity from hereon with?"

"I'm not one to divulge my Master's secrets." Andre answered curtly, but that was confirmation enough that he and Sophie Anne had enough gold to start their own kingdom after this. I could only imagine how much another venture like this would make.

As though he could read my mind Andre added, "My Master figured that this is a once off venture. When the children don't return victorious from the East, humans will not part with their children for another fools errand again. Any other attempts after this will risk exposure. To set our plan in motion, we glamoured all the adults to return home convinced that Stephen was sent by Jesus to lead a crusade of babes to convert the Moslems of the East and we started preparing for a safe environment for this to take place. In order for us to be able to maximize our profits we left Stephen at the gates of Paris to recruit more followers while Master and I went ahead and arranged last night's meeting of successful bidders and this setting." Andre swept his arm gesturing at the two tremendously large ships that we were onboard of and both streaming with hungry vampires poised to feed.

Andre lifted his head to scent the air and announced "Ah… they are approaching!" A collective hiss of glee resonated amongst the ships. "Patience, ladies and gentlemen! Do _nothing_ until after we set sail into open sea! And please try to refrain from the one in the canopy. Stephen is _mine_."

As soon as Andre's finished his words we heard the footsteps of the herd of children approaching. My nostrils flared and I salivated as their sweet scent of innocence filled the air. We could see the first of them excitedly skipping down towards the sea. No doubt this would have been the first time many of them had ever set their eyes on open water.

What a sight it was! I watched as almost a thousand children, none older than the age of twelve pooled around the port, all turned excitedly towards a boy that was raised up in a canopy. I laughed internally at the nescience of the sheep before us. Even though Stephen was young, he was obviously pale with pinched cheeks and an unmistakable shrewdness in his eyes. Not to mention obvious fang marks on his neck which he only crudely hid with his threadbare collar. I wouldn't have trusted this child with my lunch let alone my child. The possibility of _him_ being the messenger a Christ was absolutely laughable. It just proved how a little "magical" healing could get some gullible sheep to believe the most audacious fallacies.

The children's attention fell on Stephen. He seemed to be waiting for something and the children around him grew silent with anticipation. It didn't take long for them to slowly become restless. While Stephen was obviously waiting for some vampire arranged miracle to take place, I watched Sophie Anne perched on top of the roof of a nearby house away from the line of sight of the growingly restless crowd; also watching. The impatient mob started murmuring. It didn't take long for the murmurs to grow louder and with it the demands became clearer.

Before long, the children started chanting "Part the sea! Part the sea!" in unison. Is that what the fool promised?! I didn't know how Andre and Sophie Anne were going to perform _that _miracle! Ocella would be a menace if he didn't get his promised feast. Maybe I could pick off a few of the stragglers and offer them to him before I bore the brunt of his wrath. I hoped.

Even I could see that Stephen was becoming anxious. He remained in his indifferent pose inside of the canopy, but he didn't dare raise his head to meet anyone's eyes.

I was sure that a rebellion was at hand, when all of the sudden, a booming voice pierced the night like a clap of oncoming thunder.

"Hail to the mighty Prophet Stephen!" rang the voice.

To my surprise it originated from a mountain of a vampire at the bow of our ship. To say the man was a mountain was an understatement. _I _am a mountain of a man, but the size of this vampire was in an entirely different league. Not only was he well over 7 feet tall, he had the muscles of ten oxen rippling across his chest. Combined with his vampire skills he would have no problems convincing a human tribe that he was a deity.

Just as I was reveling in the overbearing presence at the bow, to my surprise I noticed there was an almost identical giant at the bow of our second ship. I could only muse they must've been brothers if not twins when they were human. When the second one bellowed in same baritone voice, "We have been called by the Glory of God to offer you and your followers' safe passage to the Moslem land of Palestine."

His 'O' when saying the word 'Moslem' betrayed his Nordic origins, while his whole short sentence sounded rehearsed. Brawn and brains seemed to be mutually exclusive with these two.

Stephen stood up in his canopy with open arms and I'm sure even the humans could tell he was relieved.

"Praise the Almighty for this miracle! On this auspicious day we will embark on our mission to the land of the East and we shall be victorious in conquering the Moslems! Come with me and we shall accomplish what so-called soldiers of God could not achieve. Our purity is His power! Our innocence His sword! Together we shall overcome!"

A loud cheer came from his enraptured audience and the children turned towards the ships and began to board. As the first few morsels began to alight, one of the children on his steed cried, "This is no miracle! We are simply boarding a ship! How are we to know that all this isn't just a farce?"

His face defiant as he looked on the ships with disdain. He must've been a child of noble descent or at least wealth. Judging by his horse, he must have descended from a background where he was at least educated to think. A few of the Masters hissed and some even showed fang at the recalcitrant child. He wasn't in my line of sight but I felt the sear of anger in my blood and it was not mine. Ocella was livid.

Andre stepped forward and simply said, "Calm gentlemen, my Master is watching."

All eyes were then diverted to Sophie Anne, still perched on top of the roof overlooking the pier. Both giants were now looking straight at her, almost like they were getting directives from her. How strange. As soon as they broke eye contact, the giant at our ship said "Pray dear sir, what is your name?"

"I am Francis, Francis de Charpignie." He answered in a tone of curt condescension, as all young men of noble descent did.

"A nobleman I see. From the house of Charpignie? I, Hugh the Iron and my brother whom goes by the name of William the Pig, are both honored to make your acquaintance."

He bowed as he addressed him. The second giant who was a lot closer to the child on the bow of his ship repeated this gesture. What game were they playing? I couldn't imagine why any of us would ever bow to a human let alone a child! As they unfolded themselves I saw the reason behind this ruse. As the giant at the other ship rose, he was holding eye contact with the boy and had him locked in his gaze. I watched as 'William' (I highly doubt that it's his real name) droned his instructions into the boy.

"We would never have any ill intent towards your task so noble and pure, we are truly meager servants of the Almighty. He had foreseen your doubts and had instructed us to rename our ships before we came before your presence." They gestured to the name engraved on both their ships, while William still hadn't broken his gaze, glamouring the boy to the hilt. I didn't even notice the name of the ships when I boarded, but now I realized what a grand Mastermind Sophie Anne was. The ships were named "The Parting Seas" I and II.

The crowd including Francis cheered and once again the children started boarding the ships. I know I should be happy if not relieved that the plan has been executed perfectly, but somehow I felt… I don't know how to describe it. It was like sickness when one has had diseased blood, but I hadn't fed for at least a week. I couldn't be poisoned if I hadn't fed. As I watched the children board, the strange sick feeling manifested itself into a weight I cannot describe and it hung heavily on my unbeating heart. For a moment I even wondered if it could be I had lost my sea legs. But that was ridiculous! Even if it were possible for a Viking of my breeding to be overcome by the sea, it was impossible for a vampire to succumb to such mundane human conditions. This strange sensation had to be the result of something else.

As we held our posts at the poop deck, some of the children were dashing around excitedly while our Masters served their prey with food and water, biding their time and fattening them up until we hit the open seas. Then the children would be ours. One little girl, no more than the age of eight by her height, took a liking to me. She bounded past me a couple of times and when it became apparent to her I wasn't acknowledging her, she finally tugged the hem of my shirt to get my attention. I tried to ignore her. I've never played with my food. She decided to ask her question anyway as most children do.

"Why are all of you standing here?"

"So you don't fall off the boat."

"That's not going to happen! We are children of God! He will protect us until we win his war and convert the Moslems."

"Really? Do you know what Moslems are?"

"They are the bad people who don't believe in Him." She answered proudly. I forgot what confidence the innocent had. How everything is the absolute truth and there's nothing on earth that could waver it.

"Do you know what these bad people, heathens and infidels look like? You have to know if you are to fight them off." I sneered.

Her sweet innocent voice rang a few tones higher at the question. "They…"

"Oh! They're absolutely terrifying! They have three heads. With faces like the hounds of hell, two rows of teeth sharper than the sharpest knives that would tear off flesh like butter. These evil men are covered in green scales and can spit fire that melts the king's shields. Honestly, I don't know why you're not more scared little girl."

Her blue eyes widened as she gasped, her little fingers covering her mouth.

"B-But we should be safe… God would help us."

"Yes I'm certain." _That_ _we will kill every last one of you before the sun is up._ Again, that mysterious weight lay heavy on my heart, it caught me by surprise as I jolted forward with the urge to spit it out, but nothing came.

The child tugged at shirt hem again. "Sir, if we were to see these bad people when we get there… would you help me if you were with me?"

"Child you don't need my help, you have God." I was getting annoyed with her. There was no need to pay anymore attention to something that was going to be dead before sunrise, but as I turned towards her and saw her sky blue eyes plead for my help, I felt a warm spot in my dead and unbeating heart. Somehow at that very moment, it had hurt me to see her in agony. I watched her blond little head bob away and I wanted to call her back and tell her everything would be fine and I would protect her. I would make sure she was one of the first ones to die and her death would be swift.

It started as soon as land disappeared from the horizon.

The smell of fresh sweet blood of untainted children blossomed into the air like first spring. We still had to stand guard at the poop deck and herd them back should any of them try to jump ship. However, some of the waiting vampires had permission from their Masters to feed on any of the stragglers that came their way and they had already started to feed. I had no such luck.

The ship shook with a symphony of screams and the beat of cracking necks as the Masters indulged in an orgy of slaughter and blood. My fangs hung so low they were scraping my bottom lip as one of the boys came howling in my direction his face glistening in tears. I was beyond famished. Yet my Master had not given me permission to feed. When the boy was almost within my reach my hunger was mixed with the most intense weight of the lead ball that has been hanging in my heart all day. It had suddenly expanded and sat solidly at my stomach, churning to get out.

The mere sight of my fangs scared the boy back into the thinning crowd of children as the Masters' faces glowed pink with fresh blood.

"Eric...," Ocella called as he dropped a small child like a rag doll on the deck, "You may pick at the scraps now."

I didn't even pause to say thank you and grabbed at the closest morsel that was fumbling on the deck. The lead ball in my stomach jumped it's way up... fighting to burst out of my chest and I didn't care; I was ravenous. I turned the blonde head around and found myself looking at same sky blue eyes, those frightened little eyes that were pleading for my help not a moment ago... those eyes… that face… so familiar and warm… reminding me of-

"SOOOOOOOOOOOOKIE… SOOOOOKIIIIIEEEE…" A voiced roared over and over. It wasn't until it stopped when I started coughing that I realized that the voice was mine. The long incessant cough fueled by the upsurge of a heavy weight in my chest is what I can only describe as close to vomiting as I have come in a thousand years. This was not normal. What was happening? I felt… disgusted and… sad. Very sad. Over the children. So many of them slaughtered and raped before my very eyes. I put my hand over my mouth as something like a snail crept its way up the back of my throat. When I pulled away it was a coin sized spot of thick crimson blood.

"Oh God Eric are you alright?!" Amelia hovered over me.

I hadn't even felt her in the room. What had happened to my instincts? She wanted to touch my shoulder but pulled back. When I looked over my shoulder I saw I was on Agwe's table. I had been resting here for over a week and my shoulder, my whole body for that matter was damp with blood.

"Throwing up and sweating blood? My, my, it seems you and Agwe have made me more human than simply awakening my soul Amelia my dear." I chuckled as I tried to distract myself from what had just happened.

Amelia placed a hand in mine; she didn't care about the blood this time and looked at me sternly. "Eric, this is getting too difficult. We've only started this and you're already sweating and throwing up blood from the horror of your past. I think we should stop."

Yes, that was what was happening. I'd been held in a suspended coma to relive the events of my life with human or in my particular case Sookie's human compassion. It hadn't been all bad. Her courage and warmth had nursed me in the darker parts of my life with Ocella. The Children's Crusade is one of the more significant events of my life I was not particularly proud of and one I did not care to revisit. But looking at it through Sookie's soul… heavens… she loves children. I pressed my hands on my face in fear I'd show any more emotion. Fear of my emotions huh? The irony.

"What do you think Houngan Agwe? Can we cut and run?" Amelia started rubbing circles on my back, trying to soothe me.

Agwe stepped up towards his butcher table and leaned in with his opaque eye as if he was examining something. "Tis something up to 'im Amelia. We harv nart tried dis on such an old vampire. Though I don't see how a vampire with a bit more soul than he had before could be a bad thing, I cannot guarantee the consequences. But I am certain your regenerative spells that require da soul intarct would nart wark."

"Shit! I don't know. What do you want to do Eric? Which century were you seeing this time?"

"Early thirteenth."

"You still have a lot more years to go… is it happening progressively or does it jump? Scratch that. Not important. How about is there anything you know which is worse than what you just saw that's coming? If it's going to be too hard let's just forget it. Like what the houngan said, there's no guarantee with what we're doing here anyway. No one would think less of you."

"I didn't live this long by doing anything by halves." For some reason I needed a pause. Was I tired? Could I be?

"Let's keep going," I said as I took my hands away from my face and sat up, ready to take the next bottle of potion to induce the sleep. I was not looking forward to reliving the Spanish Inquisition. The thought of that made me draw a deep breath for reassurance.

"May I have my phone Amelia?"

I knew the reception in this Godforsaken country was a joke and was even worse with us locked up in this basement of an excuse for a dungeon. I just wanted to hear her voice. I didn't know how long the next bout of memories would keep me under. I pressed the speed dial and waited.

"H-llo?"

"Lover?"

"H—lo? -oo is it?"

"Lover… "I didn't care if we had bad reception. I wanted to let her know how sorry I am, that now I knew what she had to give up to be mine. I went ahead and told her how we could adopt children. As many as her heart's desire to fill her longing for motherhood. Anything for her. But there was nothing I could ever do for her to forgive me if she ever found about that fateful day almost eight hundred years ago.

* * *

**A/N: So that was what happened in Haiti. What did you guys think? Did you like seeing Eric when he was under Ocella's control? I've got a few ideas about writing some shorts about Eric's long life, but that'll have to come later. I'm thinking of starting a community where everybody could submit one shots of Eric in different periods of time or his role in historical events. Does that sound like fun? **

**Mugatroid worked magic on this chapter again. She really made it perfect. **

**I'll be travelling tomorrow but I'll get cracking on DMW, let's hope I'll have plenty of chapters for you guys after the holidays.**


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